In an interview with the Xbox Official Magazine, Rocksteady’s Art Director, David Hugo talked about how the studio managed to build up a lively Gotham in Batman: Arkham Knight.

Prior to developing Gotham, they tried to imagine if they were actual occupants of Gotham City and then began thinking how to make it into a believable city while keeping the whole feel of Gotham City intact.

One of the first things we did when we started was to try to imagine ourselves living in Gotham City as a normal person. And after that, it was figuring out how we can build on from the grand gothic architecture we’ve been toying around with over the last few years.

Hugo added by saying that they began with small things that one would normally find in a city like neon signs, billboards, shops, etc. Players would find all sorts of gang activities, riots, American Cars, and other assets. And everything is presented in such a way that one won’t be able to pinpoint whether it is twenty years ago, in present time, or in ten years time.

It kind of worked in layers; we added neons, added advertisement billboards and stuff, and started thinking about what kind of shops you’d find in Gotham City.

And every kind of element we’ve added in there, whether iconic American cars or every other kind of asset, makes the entire experience feel a little out of time. You couldn’t pinpoint whether its twenty years ago, now or in ten years time.

In addition to this, Arkham City will also all those ‘neat little touches and comic book references’ to Arkham City.

One of the biggest highlight of Batman: Arkham Knight is the drivable Batmobile for the very first time in the history of Batman Games. Batmobile is capable of dusting any obstacle in its path and both Batman and Batmobile make a perfect duo. Batman would be able to summon Batmobile at will and roam around the city bringing justice to plagued streets of Gotham City.

According to Hugo, both Batman and Batmobile were created at the same time. And Batmobile can be considered as a combination of tank with jet fighter and a sports car.

We designed Batman’s new suit and the Batmobile together. The concept behind that was the Batmobile is a tank meets a jet fighter meets a very serious sports car.

While we are on the subject of Batman: Arkham Knight, you can also check out everything that we know about Batman: Arkham Knight.